Silwan

Silwan (Arabic: سلوان‎,[1]Hebrew: כְּפַר הַשִּׁילוֹחַ‬ Kfar ha-Shiloaḥ) is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood on the outskirts of the Old City of Jerusalem.[2] Forty Jewish families also live in the area.[3] Silwan is located in East Jerusalem.[4] Silwan began as a farming village, dating back to the 7th century according to local traditions, while the earliest mention of the village is from the year 985, from the 19th century onwards, the village was slowly being incorporated into Jerusalem until it became an urban neighborhood.

In 1980, Israel incorporated East Jerusalem (of which Silwan is a part) into its claimed capital city Jerusalem through the Jerusalem Law, a basic law in Israel. The move is considered by the international community as illegal under international law.[5] According to Haaretz, the Israeli government has worked closely with the right-wing settler organization Ateret Cohanim to evict Palestinians living on property whether classified formerly as heqdesh (property pledged to a temple) or not, especially in the Batan el-Hawa area of Silwan.[6]

Depending on how the neighborhood is defined, the Palestinian residents in Silwan number 20,000 to 50,000 while there are about 500 to 2,800 Jews.[7][8]

Historically, Silwan was located on the eastern slope of the Kidron Valley, above the outlet of the Gihon Spring opposite the City of David, the villagers cultivated the arable land in the Kidron Valley, which in biblical tradition formed the king's gardens during the Davidic dynasty,[9] to grow vegetables for market in Jerusalem.[10] Nineteenth-century travelers describe the valley floor as verdant and cultivated,[11][12] with the stony village perched along the top of the eastern ridge hillside.[13] A photograph of the village taken between 1853 and 1857 by James Graham can be found on page 35 of Picturing Jerusalem by photographers James Graham and Mendel Diness, it shows the western part of the modern village as empty of habitations, a few trees are scattered across the southern ridge with the small village confined to the ridgetop east of the valley.[14]

In the ancient period, the area where the village stands was occupied by the necropolis of the Biblical kingdom.[15][16][17] In the valley below, according Bible, "the waters of Shiloah go softly" (from the Gihon Spring) (Isaiah 8:6) and "the Pool of Siloam" (Nehemiah 3:15) to water King Solomon's Royal Garden, later used as a staging area for Jewish pilgrims who, during the festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot, used the spring-fed Pool of Siloam to wash and ritually purify themselves before ascending the Great Staircase to the Temple Mount while singing hymns based on Psalms. Talmudic sources describe Shiloah as the center of Eretz Israel (Zamib i 5), on Sukkot water was brought from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple and poured upon the altar (Suk v. 1.) and the priests also drank of this water (Ab. N. R. xxxv).

The necropolis, or ancient cemetery, is an archaeological site of major significance, it contains fifty rock-cut tombs of distinguished calibre, assumed to be the burial places of the highest-ranking officials of the Judean kingdom.[15] Tomb inscriptions are in Hebrew,[15] the "most famous" of the ancient rock-cut tombs in Silwan is finely carved, the one known as the Tomb of Pharaoh's daughter.[15] Another notable tomb, called the Tomb of the Royal Steward is now incorporated into a modern-period house,[15] the ancient inscription informs us that it is the final resting place of ""...yahu who is over the house."[15] The first part of the Hebrew name is effaced, but it refers to a Judean royal steward or chamberlain,[15] it is now in the collection of the British Museum.[15]

All of the tombs were long since emptied, and their contents removed.[15] A great deal of destruction was done to the tombs over the centuries by quarrying and by their conversion for use as housing, both by monks in the Christian period, when some were used as churches, and later by Muslim villagers.[17] "When the Arab village was built; tombs were destroyed, incorporated in houses or turned into water cisterns and sewage dumps."[17]

Local folklore dates Silwan to the arrival of the second Rashidun caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab from Arabia. According to one resident's version of the story, the Greeks were so impressed that the Caliph entered on foot while his servant rode on a camel that they presented him with the key to the city, the Caliph thereafter granted the wadi to "Khan Silowna," an agricultural community of cave dwellers living ancient rock-cut tombs along the face of the eastern ridge.[18]

In medieval Muslim tradition, the spring of Silwan (Ayn Silwan) was among the four most sacred water sources in the world, the others were Zamzam in Mecca, Ayn Falus in Beisan and Ayn al-Baqar in Acre.[19] Silwan is mentioned as "Sulwan" by the 10th-century Arab writer and traveller al-Muqaddasi; in 985 he noted that the village in the outskirts of Jerusalem and south of the village was ′Ain Sulwan ("Spring of Siloam") which provided "fairly good water" that irrigated the large gardens that the third Rashidun caliph, 'Othman ibn 'Affan, endowed as a waqf to the impoverished residents of Jerusalem. Al-Muqaddasi further wrote "It is said that on the Night of 'Arafat the water of the holy well Zamzam, at Makkah, comes underground to the water of the Spring (of Siloam), the people hold a festival here on that evening."[20]

In 1834, during a large-scale peasants' rebellion against Ibrahim Pasha,[22] thousands of rebels infiltrated Jerusalem through ancient underground sewage channels leading to the farm fields of the village of Silwan.[23] A traveler to Palestine in 1883, T. Skinner, wrote that the olive groves near Silwan were a gathering place for Muslims on Fridays.[24]

In the mid-1850s, the villagers of Silwan were paid £100 annually by the Jews in an effort to prevent the desecration of graves on the Mount of Olives.[25] Jewish visitors to the Western Wall were also required to pay a tax to the inhabitants of Silwan, which by 1863 was 10,000 Piastres.[26] Nineteenth-century travelers described the village as a robbers' lair.[27]Charles Wilson wrote that "the houses and the streets of Siloam, if such they may be called, are filthy in the extreme.” Charles Warren depicted the population as a lawless set, credited with being "the most unscrupulous ruffians in Palestine.”[28]

An official Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Silwan had a total of 92 houses and a population of 240, though the population count included only men.[29][30]

In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Silwan as a "village perched on a precipice and badly built of stone, the waters is brought from Ain Umm ed Deraj. There are numerous caves among and behind the houses, which are used as stables by the inhabitants."[31]

Modern settlement of the western ridge of the modern urban neighborhood of Silwan, called the City of David, began in 1873-1874, when the Meyuchas family moved out of the Old City to a new home on the ridge called the City of David.[32]

Housing units built on Silwan's barren hillside for poor Jews in the 1880s

In 1881–82, a group of Jews arrived from Yemen as a result of messianic fervor,[33][34] the year had special meaning unto them, for which some thirty Yemenite Jewish families set out from Sana'a for the Holy Land.[35] It was an arduous journey that took them over half a year to reach Jerusalem, where they arrived destitute of all things.[36] Upon reaching Jerusalem, they sought shelter in the caves and grottos in the hills facing the City of David,[37] while others moved to Jaffa. Initially shunned by the Jews of the Old Yishuv, who did not recognize them as Jews due to their dark complexions, unfamiliar customs, and strange pronunciation of Hebrew, they had to be given shelter by the Christians of the Swedish-American colony, who called them Gadites.[33][38][39] Eventually, to end their reliance on Christian charity, Jewish philanthropists purchased land in the Silwan valley to establish a neighborhood for them. By 1884, the Yemenites had settled into new stone houses at the south end of the Arab village, built for them by a Jewish charity called Ezrat Niddahim.[40] Up to 200 Yemenite Jews lived in the newly built neighborhood, called Kfar Hashiloach (Hebrew: כפר השילוח‎) or the "Yemenite Village." The neighborhood included a place of worship now known as the Old Yemenite Synagogue.[40][41] Construction costs were kept low by using the Shiloah spring as a water source instead of digging cisterns. An early 20th-century travel guide writes: In the "village of Silwan, east of Kidron ... some of the fellah dwellings [are] old sepulchers hewn in the rocks. During late years a great extension of the village southward has sprung up, owing to the settlement here of a colony of poor Jews from Yemen, etc. many of whom have built homes on the steep hillside just above and east of Bir Eyyub."[42]

In 1896 the population of Silwan was estimated to be about 939 persons.[43]

By 1910, the Yemenite Jewish community in Jerusalem and in Silwan purchased on credit a parcel of ground on the Mount of Olives for burying their dead, through the good agencies of Albert Antébi and with the assistance of the philanthropist, Baron Edmond Rothschild. The next year, the community was coerced into buying its adjacent property, by insistence of the Mukhtar (headman) of the village Silwan, and which considerably added to their holdings.[44]

At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine, "Selwan (Kfar Hashiloah)" had a population of 1,901 persons; 1,699 Muslims, 153 Jews and 49 Christians,[45] where the Christians were 16 Roman Catholics and 33 Syrian Catholics.[46] In the same year, Baron Edmond de Rothschild bought several acres of land there and transferred it to the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association.[47] By the time of the 1931 census, Silwan had 630 occupied houses and a population of 2968; 2,553 Muslims, 124 Jews and 91 Christians (the last including the Latin, Greek and St. Stephens convents).[48]

In the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, the Yemenite community was removed from Silwan by the Welfare Bureau of the Va'ad Leumi into the Jewish Quarter as security conditions for Jews worsened,[49] and in 1938, the remaining Yemenite Jews in Silwan were evacuated by the Jewish Community Council on the advice of the police.[50][51] According to documents in the custodian office and real estate and project advancement expert Edmund Levy, the homes of the Yemenite Jews were occupied by Arab families without registering ownership.[52][53]

Silwan 1948

The British Mandatory government began annexing parts of Silwan to the Jerusalem Municipality, a process completed by the final Jordanian annexation of remaining Silwan in 1952.

In the twentieth century, Silwan grew northward towards Jerusalem, expanding from a small farming village into an urban neighborhood. Modern Arab Silwan encompasses Old Silwan (generally to the south), the Yemenite village (to the north), and the once-vacant land between. Today Silwan follows the ridge of the southern peak of the Mount of Olives to the east of the Kidron Valley, from the ridge west of the Ophel up to the southern wall of the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.

In 1945 the population of Silwan was 3,820; 3,680 Muslims and 140 Christians,[54] with a total of 5,421 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[55] Of this, Arabs used 58 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land and 2,498 for cereals, while Jews used 51 for cereals.[56] A total of 172 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) land.[57]

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Silwan was annexed by Jordan along with the rest of the West Bank. Jewish-owned land in Silwan came under control of the Jordanian "guardian of enemy properties."[58] It remained under Jordanian occupation until 1967, when Israel captured the Old City and surrounding region, until then, the village had delegates in the Jerusalem City Council.

After the 1967 Six-Day War Silwan has been under Israeli occupation, and Jewish organizations have sought to re-establish a Jewish presence there.

In 1987, the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations wrote to the Secretary-General to inform him of Israeli settlement activity; his letter noted that an Israeli company had taken over two Palestinian houses in the neighborhood of al-Bustan, also called King's Garden, after evicting their occupants, claiming the houses were its property.[59] City of David (Wadi Hilweh), an area of Silwan close to the southern wall of the Old City, and its neighborhood of al-Bustan, has been ever since a focus of Jewish settlement.

In 2003, Ateret Cohanim built a seven-storey apartment building known as Beit Yonatan (named for Jonathan Pollard) without a permit; in 2007, the courts ordered the eviction of the residents,[63] but the building was approved retroactively.[64] In 2008 a plan was submitted for a building complex including a synagogue, 10 apartments, a kindergarten, a library and underground parking for 100 cars in a location 200 meters from the Old City walls.[65]

In September 2014, the Ir David Foundation helped Jews move into 25 apartments in 7 different buildings in Silwan.[66][dubious– discuss] In response to this move, on 2 October 2014, the European Union condemned settlement expansion in Silwan.[67]

On 15 June 2016, Jerusalem's City Hall approved the construction of a three-storey residential house for Jews wishing to make Silwan their home.[68]

The Silwan Ta’azef Music School opened in October 2007, since November 2007, an art program, language courses for women, men and children, leadership training for teenage girls, cooking classes, an embroidery club and swimming classes have opened in Silwan. In 2009, a local library was established, the Silwan theater group is led by a professional actress from Bethlehem.[69] Many of these activities take place at the Madaa Silwan Creative Center.[70]

The Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies put the number of residents to 19,050 in 2012.[71] However, the Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem are difficult to define, in contrast to the Jewish neighborhoods, because dense construction has blurred older boundaries and Silwan is now merged with Ras al-Amud, Jabel Mukaber and Abu Tor. The Palestinian residents in Silwan number 20,000 to 50,000 while there are fewer than 700 Jews.[72]

In 1991, a movement was formed to promote Jewish settlement in Silwan,[73][74] Some Silwan properties had already been declared absentee property in the 1980s, and suspicions arose that a number of claims filed by Jewish organizations had been accepted by the Custodian without any site visits or follow-up.[75] Property in Silwan has been purchased by Jews through indirect sales, some by invoking the Absentee Property Law;[76] in other cases, the Jewish National Fund signed protected tenant agreements that enabled construction to proceed without a tender process.[77]

In December 2011, a board member of the Jewish National Fund's US fundraising arm resigned in protest after a 20-year legal process came to a head with an order for the eviction of a Palestinian family from a JNF-owned home, the home had been acquired via the Absentee Property Law.[78][79][80] Several days before the order was carried out, JNF announced it would be delayed.[81]

As of 2004, more than 50 Jewish families live in the area,[82] some in homes acquired from Arabs who claim they did not know they were selling their homes to Jews,[83] some in Beit Yonatan.

Overnight on 30 September 2014 at 1:30 am, settlers, supported by police officers and reportedly connected to the Ir David Foundation, commonly known as Elad, entered 25 houses in 7 buildings which previously belonged to several Palestinian families in the neighborhood, in what was the largest Israeli purchase of homes in Silwan since 1986.[84] Most were vacant, but in one house where a family was evicted a confrontation broke out. Details concerning the process whereby the properties were purchased are lacking, but Palestinian middle men appear to be involved,[85] buying the six houses, and then selling them to a private American company, Kendall Finance. Elad stated that the houses had been bought properly and legally. Advertisements were posted on Facebook offering Jewish ex-army veterans $140 a day to sit in the properties until families move in,[86] the son of one Palestinian family who sold his property has fled Jerusalem, in fear for his life.[84][87] Some of the Palestinian families claiming ownership intended to get the settlers out by taking legal steps.[85]

White House spokesman Josh Earnest, in a condemnation of the takeover, described the new occupants as "individuals who are associated with an organization whose agenda, by definition, stokes tensions between Israelis and Palestinians." Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "baffled" by US criticism, deeming it "un-American" to criticize the legal purchase of homes in East Jerusalem to either Jews or Arabs.[86]

Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, which changed its name to T'ruah in 2012 accused Elad of creating a "method of expelling citizens from their properties, appropriating public areas, enclosing these lands with fences and guards, and banning the entrance of the local residents...under the protection of a private security force."[88] Approximately 1,500 supporters of RHR-NA/T'ruah wrote to Russell Robinson,[89] CEO of JNF-US, to demand an end to the eviction of a Silwan family.

In 2005, the Israeli government planned to demolish 88 Arab homes in al-Bustan neighborhood built without permits[90] but they were not found illegal in a municipal court.[91]

According to the State Comptroller's report, there were 130 illegal structures in Silwan in 2009, a tenfold increase since 1967. When enforcement of the building code began in al-Bustan in 1995, thirty illegal structures were found, mostly old residential buildings.[92] By 2004, the number of illegal structures rose to 80, the municipality launched legal proceedings against 43 and demolished 10, but these were soon replaced by new buildings.[92]

The group Ir Amim argues that the illegal construction is due to insufficient granting of permits by the Jerusalem municipality, they say that under Israeli administration, fewer than 20 permits, mainly minor, were issued for this part of Silwan, and that as a result, most building in this part of Silwan and the whole neighborhood generally lack permits.[93] They also say that as of 2009, the vast majority of buildings in the neighborhood were built without permits, in particular in al-Bustan;[94] in 2010, Ir Amim's petition to halt a municipal zoning plan for the City of David area was rejected. The plan does not call for demolition of illegal construction, but rather regulates where construction may continue, the group said that the plan favored the interests of Elad and the neighborhood's Jewish residents, while Elad said that the plan allotted only 15 percent of construction to Jews versus 85 percent to Arab residents. The mukhtar of Silwan objected to Ir Amim's petition against the plan. “We have said that there are good aspects of the plan and there are bad aspects of the plan, we’re still working it all out. But to come and say that the whole plan is bad, and to ask that it be done away with, then what have you accomplished? Nothing.”[95]

Silwan has expanded onto designated greenspace on the floor of the Kidron Valley. A redevelopment plan proposed by Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat calls for the establishment of a park to be called the Garden of the King.[96] UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk said of the plan that "international law does not allow Israel to bulldoze Palestinian homes to make space for the mayor’s project to build a garden, or anything else."[97]

The ridge to the west of Silwan, known as the City of David, is believed to be the original Bronze Age and Iron Age site of Jerusalem. Archaeological exploration began in the 19th century. Vacant during most of the Ottoman period, Jewish and Arab settlement began in the late 19th century.[98] Islamic-era skeletons discovered in the course of excavations have disappeared.[99] ElAd was accused of excavating on Palestinian property[100] and beginning its work on the City of David tunnels before receiving a permit from the Jerusalem Municipality.[101]

In 2007, archaeologists unearthed under a parking lot a 2,000-year-old mansion that may have belonged to Queen Helene of Adiabene, the building includes storerooms, living quarters and ritual baths.[102]

In her 2009 publication entitled Tree Flags, legal scholar and ethnographer, Irus Braverman, describes how Palestinians identify olive groves as an emblem or symbol of their longtime, steadfast agricultural connection (tsumud) to the land.[105]:1[106][107]

In May 2010, a group of Israeli settlers torched "an 11-Dunam olive orchard in al-Rababa valley, in Silwan, south of the Old City of Jerusalem" which included the destruction of three olive trees that were over 300 years old;[108] in a 2011 New York Times article, these attacks were called "price tag" attacks.[109] Similar destruction of olive trees occurred in Jabal Jales (an area near Hebron) and in Huwara,[110] the United Nations reported that by 2013, 11,000 olive trees owned by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank had been damaged or destroyed.[111][111][112] Washington Post, October 2014:

"More than 80,000 Palestinian farmers derive a substantial portion of their annual income from olives. Harvesting the fruit, pressing the oil, selling and sharing the produce is a ritual of life."

^Shimi Friedman, 'Adversity in a Snowball Fight: Jewish Childhood in the Muslim village of Sillwan,' in Drew Chappell (ed.) Children under construction: critical essays on play as curriculum, Peter Lang Publishing 2010, pp.259-276, pp.260-261.

^Jer. 39:4;52:7; 2 Kgs.25:4; Neh.3:15. William P. Brown, Seeing the Psalms: a theology of metaphor ,Westminster John Knox Press, 2002, p. 68: attributed to Solomon in Ecclesiastes, 2:4-6, and Josephus. See also Yee-Von Koh, Royal autobiography in the book of Qoheleth, Walter de Gruyter, 2006 p. 33, pp. 94-96.

^Based on a numerological interpretation of the biblical verse "I shall go up on the date palm [tree]" (Song of Songs 7:9), in which the numerical value of the Hebrew words "on the date palm" (Hebrew: בתמר‬) - 642 - corresponded to the Hebrew year 5642 anno mundi (1881/82), with the millennium being abbreviated, it was expounded to mean, "I shall go up (meaning, make the pilgrimage) in the year 642 of the sixth millennia. Cf. Yehudei Teiman Be-Tel Aviv (The Jews of Yemen in Tel-Aviv), Yaakov Ramon, Jerusalem 1935, p. 5 (Hebrew); The Jews of Yemen in Tel-Aviv, p. 5 in PDF

^A photograph of the vacant ridge taken between 1853 and 1857 by James Grahm can be found on page 31 of Picturing Jerusalem; James Graham and Mendel Diness, Photographers, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2007.

1.
Pool of Siloam
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The Pool of Siloam was a rock-cut pool on the southern slope of the City of David, the original site of Jerusalem, located outside the walls of the Old City to the southeast. The pool was fed by the waters of the Gihon Spring, the Pool of Siloam was first built during the reign of Hezekiah, to provide a water supply inside the City to protect it from a siege. The pool was fed by the newly constructed Siloam tunnel, prior to this, the Gihon Spring had emptied in a large open basin at its source, before being conveyed to the City by an aqueduct. This basin is known as the Upper Pool. During this period the Pool of Siloam was therefore known as the Lower Pool. It seems likely that during the Governership of Nehemiah, the pool was known as the Kings Pool (. The pool remained in use during the time of Jesus, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus sent a man blind from birth in order to complete his healing. As a freshwater reservoir, the pool would have been a gathering place for ancient Jews making religious pilgrimages to the city. Some scholars, influenced by Jesus commanding the blind man to wash in the pool, however, mikvahs are usually much smaller in size, and if the pool were a mikvah, it would be the largest ever found by a substantial margin. Yoel Elitzur has proposed that the pool was used for swimming rather than ritual immersion, the pool was rediscovered by Ir David Foundation workers, in the autumn of 2004, during excavation work for a sewer. Excavations commenced and confirmed the initial supposition, the find was announced on August 9,2005. The excavations also revealed that the pool was 225 feet wide, a portion of this pool remains unexcavated, as the land above it is owned by a nearby Greek Orthodox church and is occupied by an orchard known as the Kings Garden. The pool is not perfectly rectangular, but a soft trapezoid, there are three sets of five steps, two leading to a platform, before the bottom is reached, and it has been suggested that the steps were designed to accommodate various water levels. The pool is stone-lined, but underneath, there is evidence of a version that was merely plastered. Coins from the reign of Alexander Jannaeus were found embedded in the lining of the pool. The pool was destroyed and covered after the First Jewish–Roman War in the year 70, dating was indicated by a number of coins discovered on the stones of the patio near the pool to the north, all from the days of the Great Revolt. The latest coin is dated with 4 years to the day of the Great Revolt and it is unlikely that this shrine was built on the site of the Second Temple Pool of Siloam, but it may have been a pre-cursor to the Byzantine reconstruction, below. In the 5th century, a pool was constructed at the end of the Siloam Tunnel and this pool survives to the present day, surrounded on all sides by a high stone wall with an arched entrance to Hezekiahs Tunnel

2.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested

3.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it

4.
Palestinians
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Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one half of the worlds Palestinian population continues to reside in historic Palestine, the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel. Of the Palestinian population who live abroad, known as the Palestinian diaspora, the history of a distinct Palestinian national identity is a disputed issue amongst scholars. Palestinian was used to refer to the nationalist concept of a Palestinian people by Palestinian Arabs in a limited way until World War I, Modern Palestinian identity now encompasses the heritage of all ages from biblical times up to the Ottoman period. Founded in 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization is an organization for groups that represent the Palestinian people before the international community. Since 1978, the United Nations has observed an annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, herodotus also employs the term as an ethnonym, as when he speaks of the Syrians of Palestine or Palestinian-Syrians, an ethnically amorphous group he distinguishes from the Phoenicians. Herodotus makes no distinction between the Jews and other inhabitants of Palestine, the Greek word reflects an ancient Eastern Mediterranean-Near Eastern word which was used either as a toponym or ethnonym. In Ancient Egyptian Peleset/Purusati has been conjectured to refer to the Sea Peoples, among Semitic languages, Akkadian Palaštu is used of Philistia and its 4 city states. Biblical Hebrews cognate word Plištim, is usually translated Philistines, the Arabic word Filastin has been used to refer to the region since the time of the earliest medieval Arab geographers. It appears to have used as an Arabic adjectival noun in the region since as early as the 7th century CE. The Arabic newspaper Falasteen, published in Jaffa by Issa and Yusef al-Issa, the first Zionist bank, the Jewish Colonial Trust, was founded at the Second Zionist Congress and incorporated in London in 1899. The JCT was intended to be the instrument of the Zionist Organization. On 27 February 1902, a subsidiary of this Trust called the Anglo-Palestine Company was established in London with the assistance of Zalman David Levontin and this Company was to become the future Bank Leumi. Following the 1948 establishment of Israel, the use and application of the terms Palestine and Palestinian by, for example, the English-language newspaper The Palestine Post, founded by Jews in 1932, changed its name in 1950 to The Jerusalem Post. Jews in Israel and the West Bank today generally identify as Israelis, Arab citizens of Israel identify themselves as Israeli and/or Palestinian and/or Arab. Anyone born, after that date, of a Palestinian father – whether in Palestine or outside it – is also a Palestinian. Thus, the Jews of Palestine were/are also included, although limited only to the Jews who had resided in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion. The Charter also states that Palestine with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is a territorial unit. The although the timing and causes behind the emergence of a distinctively Palestinian national consciousness among the Arabs of Palestine are matters of scholarly disagreement

5.
Old City (Jerusalem)
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The Old City is a 0.9 square kilometers walled area within the modern city of Jerusalem. Until 1860, when the Jewish neighborhood Mishkenot Shaananim was established, traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four uneven quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter, Armenian Quarter, the Old Citys monumental defensive walls and city gates were built in the years 1535–1542 by the Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The current population of the Old City resides mostly in the Muslim and Christian quarters. As of 2007 the total population was 36,965, the breakdown of religious groups in 2006 was 27,500 Muslims,5,681 Christians, not including the 790 Armenians, and 3,089 Jews. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Old City was captured by Jordan, today, the Israeli government controls the entire area, which it considers part of its national capital. However, the Jerusalem Law of 1980, which effectively annexed East Jerusalem to Israel, was declared null, East Jerusalem is now regarded by the international community as part of occupied Palestinian territory. In 2010, Jerusalems oldest fragment of writing was found outside the Old Citys walls, according to the Bible, before King Davids conquest of Jerusalem in the 11th century BCE the city was home to the Jebusites. The Bible describes the city as heavily fortified with a city wall. The city ruled by King David, known as Ir David, or the City of David, was southeast of the Old City walls, outside the Dung Gate. His son King Solomon extended the city walls and then, in about 440 BCE, during the Persian period, Nehemiah returned from Babylon, in 41–44 CE, Agrippa, king of Judea, built a new city wall known as the Third Wall. Muslims occupied Jerusalem in the 7th Century under the second caliph and he granted its inhabitants an assurance treaty. Sophronius believed that Umar, a warrior who led an austere life, was a fulfillment of this prophecy. In the account by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Eutychius, it is said that Umar paid a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and sat in its courtyard. Eutychius adds that Umar also wrote a decree which he handed to the Patriarch, in which he prohibited Muslims gathering in prayer at the site. In 1099, Jerusalem was captured by the Western Christian army of the First Crusade and it remained in their hands until recaptured by the Arab Muslims, led by Saladin and he summoned the Jews and permitted them to resettle in the city. In 1219, the walls of the city were razed by Muazzim Sultan of Damascus, in 1229, by treaty with Egypt, in 1239 he began to rebuild the walls, but they were demolished again by Daud, the emir of Kerak. In 1243, Jerusalem came again under the control of the Christians, the Kharezmian Tatars took the city in 1244 and Sultan Malik al-Muattam razed the walls, rendering it again defenseless and dealing a heavy blow to the citys status

6.
Jews
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The Jews, also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East. Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, the Merneptah Stele appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel, associated with the god El, somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE. The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold with the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, some consider that these Canaanite sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as Hebrews. The worldwide Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II, but approximately 6 million Jews were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2015 was estimated at 14.3 million by the Berman Jewish DataBank. According to the report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel and these numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified as such by a respondent in the same household. The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure, Israel is the only country where Jews form a majority of the population. The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish state and defines itself as such in its Declaration of Independence and its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it. The English word Jew continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe, according to the Hebrew Bible, the name of both the tribe and kingdom derive from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The Hebrew word for Jew, יְהוּדִי‎ ISO 259-3 Yhudi, is pronounced, with the stress on the syllable, in Israeli Hebrew. The Ladino name is ג׳ודיו‎, Djudio, ג׳ודיוס‎, Djudios, Yiddish, ייִד‎ Yid, ייִדן‎, Yidn. The etymological equivalent is in use in languages, e. g. but derivations of the word Hebrew are also in use to describe a Jew, e. g. in Italian. The German word Jude is pronounced, the corresponding adjective jüdisch is the origin of the word Yiddish, in such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a noun, a factual reconstruction for the origin of the Jews is a difficult and complex endeavor. It requires examining at least 3,000 years of ancient human history using documents in vast quantities, as archaeological discovery relies upon researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines, the goal is to interpret all of the factual data, focusing on the most consistent theory. In this case, it is complicated by long standing politics and religious, Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Jacobs son Joseph by the Pharaoh himself. The patriarchs descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, traditionally dated to the 13th century BCE, Modern archaeology has largely discarded the historicity of the Patriarchs and of the Exodus story, with it being reframed as constituting the Israelites inspiring national myth narrative. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite ethnic group

7.
East Jerusalem
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East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem is the sector of Jerusalem that was not part of Israeli-held West Jerusalem at the end of the 1948–1949 Arab–Israeli War. Despite its name, East Jerusalem includes neighborhoods to the north, east and south of the Old City and this arrangement was formalized in the Rhodes Agreement in March 1949. A week after David Ben-Gurion presented his partys assertion that Jewish Jerusalem is an organic, inseparable part of the State of Israel in December 1949 and these decisions were confirmed respectively in the Knesset in January 1950 and the Jordanian Parliament in April 1950. On being captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, East Jerusalem, with expanded borders, in the Palestine Liberation Organization s Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988, Jerusalem is stated to be the capital of the State of Palestine. East Jerusalem has been occupied by Israel since 1967 and was annexed by Israel in 1980. On 27–28 June 1967, East Jerusalem was integrated into Jerusalem by extension of its borders and was placed under the law. In a unanimous General Assembly resolution, the UN declared the measures trying to change the status of the city invalid, following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jerusalem was divided into two parts. The western portion, populated primarily by Jews, came under Israeli rule, while the eastern portion, populated mainly by Muslim and Christian Palestinians, following the 1967 Six-Day War, the eastern part of Jerusalem came under Israeli rule, along with the entire West Bank. Shortly after the Israeli takeover, East Jerusalem was annexed to West Jerusalem, in November 1967, United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 was passed, calling for Israel to withdraw from territories occupied in the recent conflict in exchange for peace treaties. This declaration was determined to be null and void by United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, East Jerusalem is a term heavy with political implications. Israelis call the Arab populated part of the city East Jerusalem because of its location in the part of the single larger Jerusalem city unit. The term East Jerusalem is ambiguous and may be used to refer to either of the following, Jerusalem was to be an international city under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. It was not included as a part of either the proposed Jewish or Arab states, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the western part of Jerusalem was captured by Israel, while East Jerusalem was captured by Jordan. The war came to an end with the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, upon its capture, the Jordanians immediately expelled all the Jewish residents of the Jewish Quarter. The ancient Jewish cemetery on Mount of Olives was desecrated, Jordan also destroyed the Jewish villages of Atarot and Neve Yaakov just north of Jerusalem. East Jerusalem absorbed some of the refugees from West Jerusalems Arab neighborhoods that came under Israeli rule, thousands of Arab refugees who were displaced from their homes in Israeli-held West Jerusalem were settled in the previously Jewish areas of East Jerusalem. In 1950 East Jerusalem, along with the rest of the West Bank, was annexed by Jordan. During the period of Jordanian rule, East Jerusalem lost much of its importance, as it was no longer a capital and it even saw a population decrease, with merchants and administrators moving to Amman

8.
7th century
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The 7th century is the period from 601 to 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Common Era. The Muslim conquests began with the unification of Arabia by Muhammad starting in 622, after Muhammads death in 632, Islam expanded beyond the Arabian Peninsula under the Rashidun Caliphate and the Umayyad Caliphate. The Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century led to the downfall of the Sassanid Empire, also conquered during the 7th century were Syria, Palestine, Armenia, Egypt, and North Africa. The Byzantine Empire continued suffering setbacks during the expansion of the Arab Empire. In the Iberian Peninsula, the 7th century was the Siglo de Concilios, harsha united Northern India, which had reverted to small republics and states after the fall of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century. In China, the Sui dynasty was replaced by the Tang dynasty, which set up its military bases from Korea to Central Asia, China began to reach its height. Silla allied itself with the Tang Dynasty, subjugating Baekje and defeating Goguryeo to unite the Korean Peninsula under one ruler, the Asuka period persisted in Japan throughout the 7th century. Islam begins in Arabia, the Quran is documented, the first known Croatian archon Porga establishes Duchy of Croatia. The worlds population shrinks to about 208 million people, the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy emerges at the beginning of this century or the last in England. Sutton Hoo ship burial, East Anglia, xuanzang traveled from China to India, before returning to Changan in China to translate Buddhist scriptures. Timgad, Algeria, is destroyed by Berbers, end of sporadic Buddhist rule in the Sindh. Croats enter their present territory early in the 7th century, settling in six distinct tribal delimitations, the political and religious buildings are burned. The religion of Shugendo evolves from Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto, the Bulgars arrive in the Balkans, establishment of the powerful Bulgarian Empire. Arab traders penetrate the area of Lake Chad, side panels, Basilica of SantApollinare in Classe, are made. Main compound, Horyu-ji, Nara Prefecture, is built, 7th and 9th century – Mosaics above apse, Basilica of SantApollinare in Classe, are made. 600, Smallpox spreads from India into Europe,602, The Third Chinese domination of Vietnam starts following the collapse of the Early Lý dynasty. 603, Last mention of the Roman Senate in Gregorian Register and it mentions that the senate acclaimed the statues of emperor Phocas and empress Leontia. 606, Boniface elected papal successor on the death of Pope Sabinian and he sought and obtained a decree from Byzantine Emperor Phocas which stated that the See of Blessed Peter the Apostle should be the head of all the Churches

9.
19th century
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The 19th century was the century marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Napoleonic, Holy Roman and Mughal empires. After the defeat of the French Empire and its allies in the Napoleonic Wars, the Russian Empire expanded in central and far eastern Asia. By the end of the century, the British Empire controlled a fifth of the worlds land, the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain and spread to continental Europe, North America and Japan. The Victorian era was notorious for the employment of children in factories and mines, as well as strict social norms regarding modesty. Japan embarked on a program of rapid modernization following the Meiji Restoration, before defeating China, under the Qing Dynasty, europes population doubled during the 19th century, from approximately 200 million to more than 400 million. Numerous cities worldwide surpassed populations of a million or more during this century, London became the worlds largest city and capital of the British Empire. Its population increased from 1 million in 1800 to 6.7 million a century later, liberalism became the pre-eminent reform movement in Europe. Slavery was greatly reduced around the world, following a successful slave revolt in Haiti, Britain and France stepped up the battle against the Barbary pirates and succeeded in stopping their enslavement of Europeans. The UKs Slavery Abolition Act charged the British Royal Navy with ending the slave trade. The first colonial empire in the century to abolish slavery was the British, americas 13th Amendment following their Civil War abolished slavery there in 1865, and in Brazil slavery was abolished in 1888. Similarly, serfdom was abolished in Russia, in the 19th century approximately 70 million people left Europe, with most migrating to the United States of America. The 19th century also saw the creation, development and codification of many sports, particularly in Britain. Also, ladywear was a sensitive topic during this time. 1801, Ranjit Singh crowned as King of Punjab,1801, Napoleon signs the Concordat of 1801 with the Pope. 1801, Cairo falls to the British,1801, Assassination of Tsar Paul I of Russia. 1802, Ludwig van Beethoven performs his Moonlight Sonata for the first time,1803, William Symington demonstrates his Charlotte Dundas, the first practical steamboat. 1803, The United States more than doubles in size when it buys out Frances territorial claims in North America via the Louisiana Purchase. This begins the U. S. s westward expansion to the Pacific referred to as its Manifest Destiny which involves annexing and conquering land from Mexico, Britain,1803, The Wahhabis of the First Saudi State capture Mecca and Medina

10.
Jordanian annexation of the West Bank
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Jordanian annexation of the West Bank refers to the occupation and consequent annexation of the West Bank by Jordan in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. At the end of hostilities, Jordan was in control of the West Bank. Following the December 1948 Jericho Conference, and the 1949 renaming of the country from Transjordan to Jordan and it was recognized by the United Kingdom, Iraq and Pakistan. Jordan transferred its citizenship to the residents of the West Bank, prior to hostilities in 1948, all of the country known as Palestine had been under the British-controlled Mandate Government of Palestine, since 1917. Prior to that time, the country had been under Ottoman Turk occupation since 1517, toward the expiration of the British Mandate, Arabs aspired for independence and self-determination, as did the Jews of the country. On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion, on behalf of the Jewish leadership, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, on 22 September 1948, the All-Palestine Government was established in Gaza captured by Egypt. On 30 September, the First Palestine Congress, which saw Palestine as part of Syria, the December 1948 Jericho Conference, a meeting of prominent Palestinian leaders and King Abdullah, voted in favor of annexation into what was then Transjordan. By the end of the war, Jordanian forces had control over the West Bank, on 3 April 1949, Israel and Jordan signed an armistice agreement. The main points included, Jordanian forces remained in most positions held in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Jordan withdrew its forces from its front posts overlooking the Sharon plain, in return, Israel agreed to allow Jordanian forces to take over positions in the West Bank previously held by Iraqi forces. The committee was never formed, and access to the Holy Places was denied to Israelis throughout the Jordanian occupation, the remainder of the area designated as part of an Arab state under the UN Partition Plan was partly occupied by Egypt, partly occupied and annexed by Israel. The intended international enclave of Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan, the Jordanians immediately expelled all the Jewish residents of East Jerusalem. All but one of the 35 synagogues in the Old City were destroyed over the course of the next 19 years, either razed or used as stables, many other historic and religiously significant buildings were replaced by modern structures. The United States, together with the United Kingdom favored the annexation by Transjordan, Jordan formally annexed the West Bank on 24 April 1950, giving all residents automatic Jordanian citizenship. West Bank residents had received the right to claim Jordanian citizenship in December 1949. Jordans annexation was regarded as illegal and void by the Arab League. A motion to expel Jordan from the League was prevented by the votes of Yemen. On 12 June 1950, the Arab League declared the annexation was a temporary, practical measure, on 27 July 1953, King Hussein of Jordan announced that East Jerusalem was the alternative capital of the Hashemite Kingdom and would form an integral and inseparable part of Jordan

11.
Six-Day War
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The Six-Day War, also known as the June War,1967 Arab–Israeli War, or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10,1967 by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Relations between Israel and its neighbours had never fully normalised following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, in the period leading up to June 1967, tensions became dangerously heightened. In reaction to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces along the Israeli border in the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptians were caught by surprise, and nearly the entire Egyptian air force was destroyed with few Israeli losses, giving the Israelis air superiority. Simultaneously, the Israelis launched an offensive into the Gaza Strip and the Sinai. After some initial resistance, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered the evacuation of the Sinai, Israeli forces rushed westward in pursuit of the Egyptians, inflicted heavy losses, and conquered the Sinai. Nasser induced Syria and Jordan to begin attacks on Israel by using the initially confused situation to claim that Egypt had defeated the Israeli air strike. Israeli counterattacks resulted in the seizure of East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank from the Jordanians, on June 11, a ceasefire was signed. Arab casualties were far heavier than those of Israel, fewer than a thousand Israelis had been killed compared to over 20,000 from the Arab forces. Israels military success was attributed to the element of surprise, an innovative and well-executed battle plan, Israel seized control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israeli morale and international prestige was greatly increased by the outcome of the war, across the Arab world, Jewish minority communities were expelled, with refugees going to Israel or Europe. After the 1956 Suez Crisis, Egypt agreed to the stationing of a United Nations Emergency Force in the Sinai to ensure all parties would comply with the 1949 Armistice Agreements, in the following years there were numerous minor border clashes between Israel and its Arab neighbors, particularly Syria. In early November 1966, Syria signed a defense agreement with Egypt. Jordanian units that engaged the Israelis were quickly beaten back, King Hussein of Jordan criticized Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser for failing to come to Jordans aid, and hiding behind UNEF skirts. In May 1967, Nasser received false reports from the Soviet Union that Israel was massing on the Syrian border, the right of innocent, maritime passage must be preserved for all nations. On May 30, Jordan and Egypt signed a defense pact, the following day, at Jordans invitation, the Iraqi army began deploying troops and armoured units in Jordan. They were later reinforced by an Egyptian contingent, on June 1, Israel formed a National Unity Government by widening its cabinet, and on June 4 the decision was made to go to war. The next morning, Israel launched Operation Focus, a surprise air strike that was the opening of the Six-Day War. Before the war, Israeli pilots and ground crews had trained extensively in rapid refitting of aircraft returning from sorties and this has contributed to the Arab belief that the IAF was helped by foreign air forces

12.
Israeli-occupied territories
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The Israeli-occupied territories are the territories occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. Originally, those included the Syrian Golan Heights, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip. Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict, termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for the right of every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries. From 1967 to 1982, the four areas were governed under the Israeli Military Governorate, the IMG was dissolved in 1982, after the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. Between 1998 and 2012, the term Palestinian territories, Occupied was used to refer to territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, the International Court of Justice, the UN General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council regards Israel as the Occupying Power. UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk called Israels occupation an affront to international law, the Israeli High Court of Justice has ruled that Israel holds the West Bank under belligerent occupation. Israeli governments have preferred the term disputed territories in the case of the West Bank, officially Israel maintains that the West Bank is disputed territory. Israel asserts that since the disengagement of Israel from Gaza in 2005, the significance of the designation of these territories as occupied territory is that certain legal obligations fall on the occupying power under international law. Under international law there are laws of war governing military occupation, including the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. In 2015, over 800,000 Israelis resided over the 1949 Armistice Lines, Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt in the 1967 Six-Day War. It established settlements along the Gulf of Aqaba and in the northeast portion and it had plans to expand the settlement of Yamit into a city with a population of 200,000, though the actual population of Yamit did not exceed 3,000. The Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in stages beginning in 1979 as part of the Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty, as required by the treaty, Israel evacuated Israeli military installations and civilian settlements prior to the establishment of normal and friendly relations between it and Egypt. Israel dismantled eighteen settlements, two air bases, a naval base, and other installations by 1982, including the only oil resources under Israeli control. The evacuation of the population, which took place in 1982, was done forcefully in some instances. The settlements were demolished, as it was feared that settlers might try to return to their homes after the evacuation, since 1982, the Sinai Peninsula has not been regarded as occupied territory. Israels stated purpose for the Security Belt was to create a space separating its northern border towns from terrorists residing in Lebanon, during the stay in the security belt, the IDF held many positions and supported the SLA. The SLA took over daily life in the security zone, initially as the force of the Free Lebanon State. Notably, the South Lebanon Army controlled the prison in Khiam, in addition, United Nations forces and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were deployed to the security belt

13.
Jerusalem Municipality
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The Municipality of Jerusalem is a municipality of the city of Jerusalem, located in the in the Jerusalem District. The municipal authorities are housed in the offices of the Mayor of Jerusalem and it was created in the 1990s around Safra Square in the Daniel Garden. It brings together all the activities of the Municipality that were located in 32 different buildings scattered throughout the city. These considerations led to the preservation of historical buildings that were renovated

14.
Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem

15.
Jerusalem Law
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The Jerusalem Law is a common name of Basic Law, Jerusalem, Capital of Israel passed by the Knesset on July 30,1980. However, this clause was dropped after the first reading in the Knesset, for example, United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, adopted by 14 votes to none, with 1 abstention, declared soon after that the law was null and void and must be rescinded. This resolution called upon member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city, as legislation, the Act is regarded as largely symbolic. An amendment in 2000 further specified the jurisdiction of the law and it actually did not change its range. The amendment also prohibited transfer of authority to a foreign body, Basic Law, Jerusalem, Capital of Israel Jerusalem, Capital of Israel,1. Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel, seat of the President, the Knesset, the Government and the Supreme Court,2. Jerusalem is the seat of the President of the State, the Knesset, the Government, Jerusalem shall be given special priority in the activities of the authorities of the State so as to further its development in economic and other matters. The Government shall set up a body or special bodies for the implementation of this section. 1, Area of the jurisdiction of Jerusalem 5, prohibition of the transfer of authority 6. Clauses 5 and 6 shall not be modified except by a Basic Law passed by a majority of the members of the Knesset, text of the law, Basic Law, Jerusalem, Capital of Israel

16.
Haaretz
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It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently still in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International New York Times, both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet. In North America, it out as a weekly newspaper. It is known for its left-wing and liberal stances on domestic, as of 2016, the newspaper had a weekday exposure rate of 3. 9% in Israel, significantly lower than the countrys other national newspapers. Haaretz was first published in 1918 as a newspaper sponsored by the British military government in Palestine, in 1919, it was taken over by a group of socialist-oriented Zionists, mainly from Russia. The newspaper was established on 18 June 1919 by a group of businessmen including prominent philanthropist Isaac Leib Goldberg, later, the name was shortened to Haaretz. The literary section of the paper attracted leading Hebrew writers of the time, the newspaper was initially published in Jerusalem. From 1919 to 1922, the paper was headed by a succession of editors and it was shut down briefly due to a budgetary shortfall and reopened in Tel Aviv at the beginning of 1923 under the editorship of Moshe Glickson, who held the post for 15 years. The Tel Aviv municipality granted the financial support by paying in advance for future advertisements. Salman Schocken, a wealthy German Jewish Zionist who owned a chain of department stores in Germany and his son, Gershom Schocken, became the chief editor in 1939 and held that position until his death in 1990. Until August 2006, the Schocken family owned 100% of the Haaretz Group, the deal was negotiated with the help of former Israeli ambassador to Germany, Avi Primor. This deal was seen as controversial in Israel as DuMont Schaubergs father, Kurt Neven DuMont, was member of the German Nazi party, while his publishing house promoted Nazi ideology. On 12 June 2011, it was announced that Russian-Israeli businessman Leonid Nevzlin had purchased a 20% stake in the Haaretz Group, buying 15% from the family and this means that the Schocken family now owns 60% and M. DuMont Schauberg and Leonid Nevzlin have 20% each. In October 2012, a union strike mobilized to protest planned layoffs by the Haaretz management, as a consequence, both the Haaretz newspaper and its TheMarker business supplement were not printed for one day. According to Israel Radio, it was the first time since 1965 that a newspaper did not go to press on account of a strike, the newspapers editorial policy was defined by Gershom Schocken, who was editor-in-chief from 1939 to 1990. Schocken was succeeded as editor-in-chief by Hanoch Marmari, in 2004 David Landau replaced Marmari and was succeeded by Dov Alfon in 2008. The current editor-in-chief of the newspaper is Aluf Benn, who replaced Alfon in August 2011, charlotte Halle became editor of the English Print Edition in February 2008. Haaretz describes itself as having a liberal outlook both on domestic issues and on international affairs

17.
Ateret Cohanim
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Ateret Cohanim, also Ateret Yerushalayim, is an Israeli Jewish organization with a yeshiva located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It works for the creation of a Jewish majority in the Old City, founded in 1978, it was originally known under the name Atara Leyoshna. After many disagreements about the nature of its activities, the closed and re-opened as a new association called Ateret Cohanim with a yeshiva. The association owns many buildings in the Old City, where over 80 families live, some estimate that 1,000 Israeli Jews live in houses that Ateret Cohanim purchased in the Old City since 1978. It controls at least seven other organizations that are not registered in Israel, the head of the association is Mati Dan. It depends heavily on donations from American Jewish businessman Irving Moskowitz, around 2000, Ateret Cohanim and another organization, the Ir David Foundation, began to acquire land in Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem outside the Old City. They operate mainly in the village of Silwan and at the Beit Orot Yeshiva on the Mount of Olives, in the Old City, the yeshiva was involved in buying property from Arabs, Greeks, and Armenians. Ateret Cohanim reportedly owns more than 70 buildings in the Muslim Quarter, the property includes their yeshiva, the building that houses Yeshiva Shuvu Banim, several dormitories, a museum, and about 50 apartment units. Some of the property belonged to Jews who lived in the Muslim Quarter before they were out by pogroms in 1929 and 1936. Rabbi Nissan Ben-Avraham is one of the alumni of the yeshiva. In May,2015 Ateret Cohanim reclaimed legal ownership of the Old Yemenite Synagogue in the nineteenth century Jewish Yemenite Village Kfar Hashiloach neighborhood in the Jerusalem district of Silwan. The buildings new residence moved into the building at approximately 01,00 after being met by Arabs throwing rocks at them, in 1886, Rabbi Yitzchak Winongrad established the Torat Chaim Yeshiva on ha-Gai Street, facing the Temple Mount. At its peak, about 300 students from all over the world, including Rabbis Tzvi Pesach Frank, Tzvi Yehuda Kook, the ground floor of the building served as a shop selling vegetables which provided funds for the yeshivas maintenance. This yeshiva was the one out of approximately 80 synagogues. In 1967, the caretaker gave the keys to Chaim Herzog, Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim is a continuation of the former Yeshiva, Torat Chaim, and is located within the same building as the old Yeshiva. In 1980, when Israel passed the Jerusalem Law, reunifying Jerusalem, in 1983 Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim began occupying the building, the first time the building was used for a Yeshiva in almost 50 years. The Rosh yeshiva is Shlomo Aviner, and the Yeshiva serves the 1,000 Jewish residents of the Old City, there are over 1,500 graduates of the Yeshiva. Yeshiva Otzmat Yerushalayim is a Yeshiva in the Arab neighborhoods near Herods Gate announced in 2014 by Ateret Cohanim, the organization stated they planned to open a yeshiva named Otzmat Yerushalayim in May 2014 to celebrate the 47th year of the occupation of East Jerusalem

18.
Kidron Valley
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The Kidron Valley is the valley on the eastern side of The Old City of Jerusalem, separating the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives. It continues east through the Judean Desert in the West Bank, towards the Dead Sea, the settlement Kedar, located on a ridge above the valley, is named after it. The neighborhood of Wadi al-Joz bears the valleys Arabic name, the Hebrew Bible calls it Emek Yehoshafat, the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It appears in Jewish eschatologic prophecies, which include the return of Elijah, followed by the arrival of the Messiah, the central point of reference for the Kidron Valley is its confluence of Jerusalem’s richest concentration of rock-hewn tombs. This area, located on the periphery of the village Silwan, was one of the burial grounds of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period. Several of these tombs were used later in time, either as burial or as shelters for hermits and monks of the large monastic communities. The ancient tombs in this area attracted the attention of ancient travelers, might refer to certain parts of this valley located in the immediate vicinity of ancient Jerusalem, but not to the entire wadi, and certainly not to the long segment crossing the Judean desert. Similarly, in Arabic every more substantial wadi has many names, the Hebrew Bible calls the Valley Valley of Jehoshaphat - Emek Yehoshafat, meaning The valley where Yahweh shall judge. In the times of the Old Testament kings, the Kidron Valley was identified with, at least in part, the King’s Garden and that the upper Kidron Valley was also known as the King’s Valley, in which Absalom set up his monument or pillar, is problematic. The Bible does not make this identification explicit, and the association can only be inferred as associated with En-rogel and it should be noted that not all scholars agree with the traditional view that the Kidron Valley is the location of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Biblical commentator Adam Clarke maintains this view, claiming that the Valley of Judgment is a symbolic place, Kidron Valley was not associated with the Valley of Jehoshaphat until the 4th century AD. A passage in the Bible mentions that God will assemble all nations in the “Valley of Jehoshaphat”, some hold that the Valley of Jehoshaphat refers to the valley situated between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives to the east. It was in this valley where king Jehoshaphat is thought to have overthrown the enemies of Israel and its identification with the Kidron Valley, which began in the fourth century, is somewhat uncertain since no actual valley of this name is known to pre-Christian antiquity. The three monumental tombs on the side of the Kidron Valley are among the most well-known landmarks of ancient Jerusalem. Absalom’s tomb consists of two parts, first, a lower cube hewn out of the bedrock, decorated with engaged Ionic columns bearing a Doric frieze and crowned by an Egyptian cornice. This part of the monument contains a chamber with an entrance. The second part, built of ashlars, is placed on top of the rock-hewn cube and it consists of a square pedestal carrying a round drum, itself topped by a conical roof. The cone is slightly concave and is crowned by an Egyptian-style lotus flower, the upper part has the general shape of a tholos and is interpreted as a nefesh or monument for the tomb below, and possibly also for the adjacent Cave of Jehoshaphat

19.
Gihon Spring
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For the river mentioned in Genesis, see Gihon. The Gihon Spring or Fountain of the Virgin in the Kidron Valley was the source of water for the Pool of Siloam in the City of David. The spring rises in a cave 20 feet by 7, being intermittent, it required the excavation of the Pool of Siloam which stored the large amount of water needed for the town when the spring was not flowing. The spring has the characteristic of being intermittent, flowing from three to five times daily in winter, twice daily in summer, and only once daily in autumn. This peculiarity is accounted for by the supposition that the outlet from the reservoir is by a passage in the form of a siphon. The spring is under the control of the Israeli settler organization Ir David Foundation, the name Gihon is thought to derive from the Hebrew Giha which means gushing forth. The name Fountain of the Virgin derives from legend that here Mary washed the clothes of Jesus. This led from the spring to the Pool of Siloam and was an aqueduct, warrens Shaft – a steep tunnel, dating from slightly later than the Middle Bronze Age channel, leading from the Well Gate at the top of Ophel above Gihon, down to the spring. This passage was for people to water from the spring. The Siloam tunnel – a winding tunnel carved into the rock, dating from the time of Hezekiah or earlier, it was an aqueduct that effectively replaced the Middle Bronze Age channel. Since the area around the still was inhabited, and hence could not be excavated. During an archaeological dig in 2009, a fragment of a stone inscription securely dated to the eighth century BC was discovered. Although only fragments of Hebrew lettering survive, the fragment proves that the city had monumental public inscriptions, GIHON in the Jewish Encyclopedia - a version of the publication written before the site of the spring was rediscovered

20.
City of David
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The City of David (Hebrew, is an Israeli settlement and the archaeological site which is speculated to compose the original urban core of ancient Jerusalem. In 1997 management of the park was taken over by Ir David Foundation, the international community regards Israeli settlements illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. It is best known for its Iron Age structures attributed to Judean kings, the site is now located under the Arab neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh, and extends down from the southern city walls of Jerusalems Old City. Not far from that area a number of bullae were unearthed, bearing the names of Yehucal son of Shelemiah and Gedaliah son of Pashhur. The area is one of the most intensively excavated sites in the Holy Land and it is on a narrow ridge running south from the Temple Mount in the predominantly Arab neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem. The City of David is highly controversial in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and it is located in Wadi Hilweh, on the western ridge of the predominately Arab neighborhood of Silwan. Jews constitute the majority of the population, the construction of the 16,000 m2 Kedem Compound, approved in April 2014, was denounced by UNESCO in October 2016. Archaeological exploration of the began in the nineteenth century, with excavations undertaken by Charles Warren in 1867. Warren was sent by the Palestine Exploration Fund, Warren conducted an excavation of the area south of the Temple Mount and recovered a massive fortification. The finding led him to conduct excavations at the area south to mount temple. There he revealed a shaft coming from underground to the surface and he suggested that the shaft was used to supply water to the city. Today this shaft is called after his discoverer warrens shaft, Warren believed that he is excavating the old biblical city of David. There have been numerous excavations since and several digs are currently underway, complete lists of the Ottoman Era digs, British Mandate era digs, Jordanian era digs and of the early Israeli era digs are available at the website of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The area includes sites of archaeological interest, notably the Siloam tunnel, Warrens shaft. All of these water supply systems drew their water from the Gihon Spring which lies on the Ophels eastern slope, the site of the Gihon Spring and Pool of Siloam are incorporated in an archaeological park open to the public. Visitors can wade through the Siloam Tunnel, through which the waters of the ancient spring still flow, chalcolithic remains include bits of pottery found in clefts in the bedrock by Macalister and Duncan. The expedition also discovered a number of places where the bedrock had been cut in various ways and these included areas where the rock had been smoothed and others where it had been cut to form flow channels. There were also groups of small basins, sometimes called cup marks

21.
Silwan necropolis
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The Silwan necropolis is the most important ancient cemetery in Israel, and is assumed to have been used by the highest-ranking officials residing in Jerusalem. Its tombs were cut between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE and it is situated on the rocky eastern slope of the Kidron Valley, facing the oldest part of Jerusalem. The Arab village of Silwan was later built atop the necropolis, although the existence of ancient tombs in the village of Silwan had been known since the 19th century, the first careful survey was not performed until 1968. All of the tombs were long since emptied and their contents removed, the Silwan necropolis is an archaeological site of major significance. In the 19th century, it contained some forty rock-cut tombs of distinguished caliber, the inscriptions found on three of the tombs are in Hebrew. The architecture of the tombs and the manner of burial is different from anything known from contemporary Palestine, the stone benches on which bodies were laid out and the small square entrance doors are similar to those found elsewhere in Judah. David Ussishkin believes that the similarity to building styles of the Phoenician cities validates the Biblical description of Phoenician influence on the Israelite kingdoms. If the ancient Israelite kingdoms followed the practice of other west-Semitic kingdoms, the scholarly consensus is that the royal palace stood on the opposite hill to the west. There are three different types of tombs in the Silwan necropolis, each type concentrated in one specific area, seven of the tombs feature gabled ceilings and extremely fine stonework. Ussishkin describes them as among the most beautifully rock-cut tombs known in the Jerusalem area even when compared with tombs of later periods. In contrast with the family tombs of later periods, these are for single or double burials. Later destruction has effaced the original doorways, a second tomb type described by Ussishkin has flat ceilings and 1,2 or 3 chambers of well-dressed stone carefully squared into spacious rooms. One features a chamber of especially impressive scale and quality. There are tombs combining characteristics of the two described here above, the third type consists of just three magnificent monolith tombs, now located in the northern part of the village. These have been carved out of the cliff to create free-standing buildings above the burial chambers. Hebrew inscriptions survive on these three tombs, these are the ancient inscriptions that survive in Silwan. The following are the three tombs, The most famous of the ancient rock-cut tombs in Silwan is the finely carved monolith known as the Tomb of Pharaohs Daughter. It is the one of the three free-standing tombs in which the above-ground chamber survives, although the pyramid-shaped roof is missing because it was quarried for stone

22.
Jerusalem pilgrim road
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The Jerusalem pilgrim road is an ancient road used by ritual processions ascending from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount via the Hulda Gates in the Southern Wall. The ancient path was improved and paved in large, well-cut stone in the pattern of two followed by a long landing, followed by two more steps and another landing. The road was eight meters wide and its length from the Pool to the Temple Mount is 600 meters, sections of the ancient road were first discovered by Prof. Frederick J. Bliss and Archibald C. Dickey of the Palestine Exploration Fund between 1894 and 1897, the find was reburied when their excavation concluded. Other sections were uncovered, then reburied, by archaeologists, Jones in 1937. In ancient times, in the celebration called Simchat Beit HaShoeivah, according to Israeli archaeologists, the road was found during excavations on a water channel from the Second Temple period. The road went from the ancient City of David, today the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, into what is now the Old City and passed by the Western Wall, Judaisms holiest site. City of David Excavations at the Temple Mount Givati Parking Lot dig Jerusalem Water Channel, actually the drainage under the stepped pilgrimage road Robinsons Arch Silwan

23.
Solomon
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Solomon, also called Jedidiah, was, according to the Bible, Quran, hadith and Hidden Words a fabulously wealthy and wise king of Israel and a son of David, the previous king of Israel. The conventional dates of Solomons reign are circa 970 to 931 BC and he is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, which would break apart into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah shortly after his death. Following the split, his descendants ruled over Judah alone. According to the Talmud, Solomon is one of the 48 prophets, in the Quran, he is considered a major prophet, and Muslims generally refer to him by the Arabic variant Sulayman, son of David. Solomon was, according to the Quran, a king of ancient Israel as well as the son of David, the Hebrew Bible credits him as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem. It portrays him as great in wisdom, wealth, and power any of the previous kings of the country. His sins included idolatry, marrying foreign women, and ultimately turning away from Yahweh, Solomon is the subject of many other later references and legends, most notably in the 1st-century apocryphal work known as the Testament of Solomon. Solomon was born in Jerusalem, the second child of David and his wife Bathsheba. The first child, a son conceived adulterously during Uriahs lifetime, had died before Solomon was conceived as a punishment on account of the death of Uriah by Davids order. Solomon had three named full brothers through Bathsheba, Nathan, Shammua, and Shobab, besides six known older half-brothers through as many mothers, according to the First Book of Kings, when David was old, he could not get warm. So they sought a young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite. The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, while David was in this state, court factions were maneuvering for power. Solomon greatly expanded his military strength, especially the cavalry and chariot arms and he founded numerous colonies, some of which doubled as trading posts and military outposts. Trade relationships were a focus of his administration, Solomon is considered the most wealthy of the Israelite kings named in the Bible. Solomon also built the First Temple, beginning in the year of his reign. Solomon was the Biblical king most famous for his wisdom, in 1 Kings he sacrificed to God and prayed for wisdom. God personally answered his prayer, promising him great wisdom because he did not ask for self-serving rewards like long life or the death of his enemies. Perhaps the best known story of his wisdom is the Judgment of Solomon, Solomon easily resolved the dispute by commanding the child to be cut in half and shared between the two

24.
Sukkot
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It is a biblical Jewish holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. During the existence of the Jerusalem Temple it was one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which the Israelites were commanded to perform a pilgrimage to the Temple. The more elaborate religious significance from the Book of Leviticus is that of commemorating the Exodus, the holiday lasts seven days in Israel and eight in the diaspora. The first day is a Shabbat-like holiday when work is forbidden and this is followed by intermediate days called Chol Hamoed, when certain work is permitted. The festival is closed with another Shabbat-like holiday called Shemini Atzeret, Shemini Atzeret coincides with the eighth day of Sukkot outside of Israel. The Hebrew word sukkōt is the plural of sukkah, booth or tabernacle, a sukkah is the name of the temporary dwelling in which farmers would live during harvesting, a fact connecting to the agricultural significance of the holiday stressed by the Book of Exodus. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten inside the sukkah and many people there as well. On each day of the holiday it is mandatory to perform a ceremony with the Four Species. The origins of Sukkot are both historical and agricultural, historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival and is referred to as Chag HaAsif. Sukkot is a holiday, with the first day celebrated as a full festival with special prayer services. The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Rabbah and has a special observance of its own, outside Israel, the first and last two days are celebrated as full festivals. The intermediate days are known as Chol HaMoed, according to Halakha, some types of work are forbidden during Chol HaMoed. In Israel many businesses are closed during this time, throughout the week of Sukkot, meals are eaten in the sukkah and the males sleep there, although the requirement is waived in case of rain. Every day, a blessing is recited over the Lulav and the Etrog. Observance of Sukkot is detailed in the Book of Nehemiah 8, 13-18, Zechariah 14, 16-19 and Leviticus 23, 34-44 in the Bible, the Mishnah, the Tosefta, the sukkah walls can be constructed of any material. The walls can be free-standing or include the sides of a building or porch, the roof must be of organic material, known as schach, such as leafy tree overgrowth, schach mats or palm fronds. It is customary to decorate the interior of the sukkah with hanging decorations of the four species

25.
Necropolis
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A necropolis is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek νεκρόπολις nekropolis, literally meaning city of the dead, the term usually implies a separate burial site at a distance from a city, as opposed to tombs within cities, which were common in various places and periods of history. They are different from fields, which did not have remains above the ground. While the word is most commonly used for ancient sites, the name was revived in the early 19th century and applied to planned city cemeteries, such as the Glasgow Necropolis. Aside from the pyramids which were reserved for the burial of Pharaohs the Egyptian necropoleis included mastabas, naqsh-e Rustam is an ancient necropolis located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars Province, Iran. The oldest relief at Naqsh-i Rustam dates to c.1000 BC, though it is severely damaged, it depicts a faint image of a man with unusual head-gear and is thought to be Elamite in origin. The depiction is part of an image, most of which was removed at the command of Bahram II. Four tombs belonging to Achaemenid kings are carved out of the face at a considerable height above the ground. The tombs are known locally as the Persian crosses, after the shape of the facades of the tombs, later, Sassanian kings added a series of rock reliefs below the tombs. In the Mycenean Greek period pre-dating ancient Greece burials could be performed inside the city, in Mycenae for example the royal tombs were located in a precinct within the city walls. This changed during the ancient Greek period when necropoleis usually lined the roads outside a city, there existed some degree of variation within the ancient Greek world however. Sparta was notable for continuing the practice of burial within the city, the Etruscans took the concept of a city of the dead quite literally. The typical tomb at the Banditaccia necropolis at Cerveteri consists of a tumulus which covers one or more rock-cut subterranean tombs and these tombs had multiple chambers and were elaborately decorated like contemporary houses. The arrangement of the tumuli in a grid of streets gave it a similar to the cities of the living. The art historian Nigel Spivey considers the name cemetery inadequate and argues that only the term necropolis can do justice to these burial sites. Etruscan necropoleis were located on hills or slopes of hills. In ancient Rome families originally buried deceased relatives in their own homes because of the Roman practice of ancestor worship, the enactment of the Twelve Tables in 449 BC forbade this, which made the Romans adopt the practice of burial in necropoleis. List of necropoleis Funerary art Catacombs

26.
Rock-cut tomb
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A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, usually along the side of a hill. It was a form of burial for the wealthy in ancient times in several parts of the world. Important examples are found in Egypt, most notably in the town of Deir el-Medina, a kokh is a type of tomb complex characterized by a series of long narrow shafts, in which the deceased were placed for burial, radiating from a central chamber. A kokhim complex survives at the far west end of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Church wall runs through the centre of the complex, and the remaining two thirds no longer exist. Many more kokhim can be throughout the Judean foothills. Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel Tomb of Darius I Naqsh-e Rustam Necropolis

27.
Monolith of Silwan
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The structure, a typical Israelite rock-cut tomb, was previously capped by a pyramid structure. It is one of the complete and distinctive First Temple Period structures. The pyramidal, rock cap was cut into pieces and removed for quarry, the tomb contains a single stone bench, indicating that it was designed for only one burial. Recent research indicates that the bench was the base of a sarcophagus hewn into the original building, however, subsequent archaeological investigation has dated the site to the 9th-7th Century BC, making the connection to Solomon impossible. The tomb was cleaned following the 1967 Six-Day War, neglected since Ussishkins survey, trash disposal has in recent years has resulted in an unkempt, unattractive appearance. Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel Silwan necropolis

28.
British Museum
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The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician, the museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. Although today principally a museum of art objects and antiquities. Its foundations lie in the will of the Irish-born British physician, on 7 June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. They were joined in 1757 by the Old Royal Library, now the Royal manuscripts, together these four foundation collections included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf. The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary, the body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the Montagu family for £20,000. The Trustees rejected Buckingham House, on the now occupied by Buckingham Palace, on the grounds of cost. With the acquisition of Montagu House the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several gifts, including the Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts. A list of donations to the Museum, dated 31 January 1784, in the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. Gifts and purchases from Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1816 these masterpieces of art, were acquired by The British Museum by Act of Parliament. The collections were supplemented by the Bassae frieze from Phigaleia, Greece in 1815, the Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the widow of Claudius James Rich. The neoclassical architect, Sir Robert Smirke, was asked to draw up plans for an extension to the Museum. For the reception of the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it, and put forward plans for todays quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old Montagu House was demolished and work on the Kings Library Gallery began in 1823, the extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. The Museum became a site as Sir Robert Smirkes grand neo-classical building gradually arose

29.
Rashidun Caliphate
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The Rashidun Caliphate was the Islamic caliphate in the earliest period of Islam, comprising the first five caliphs—the Rightly Guided or Rashidun caliphs. It was founded after Muhammads death in 632 CE, after Muhammads death in 632 CE, the Medinan Ansar debated which of them should succeed him in running the affairs of the Muslims while Muhammads household was busy with his burial. Umar and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah pledged their loyalty to Abu Bakr, with the Ansar, Abu Bakr thus became the first Khalīfatu Rasūli l-Lāh successor of the Messenger of God, or caliph, and embarked on campaigns to propagate Islam. First he would have to subdue the Arabian tribes which had claimed that although they pledged allegiance to Muhammad and accepted Islam, as a caliph, Abu Bakr was not a monarch and never claimed such a title, nor did any of his three successors. Rather, their election and leadership were based upon merit, as for the fifth Caliph, ‘Alis son Al-Hasan, as a son of Fatimah, he was a grandson of Muhammad. Furthermore, according to other hadiths in Sunan Abu Dawood and Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, towards the end times, Abu Bakr, the oldest companion of Muhammad, was caliph for only 2 years before he died. When Muhammad died, Abu Bakr and Umar, his two companions, were in the Saqifah meeting to select his successor while the family of Muhammad was busy with his funeral, controversy among the Muslims emerged about whom to name as Caliph. There was disagreement between the Meccan followers of Muhammad who had emigrated with him in 622 and the Medinans who had become followers, the Ansar, considering themselves being the hosts and loyal companions of Muhammad, nominated Sad bin Ubadah as their candidate for the Caliphate. In the end, however, Muhammads closest friend, Abu Bakr, was named the khalifa or Successor of Muhammad, a new circumstance had formed a new, untried political formation, the caliphate. Troubles emerged soon after Muhammads death, threatening the unity and stability of the new community, Apostasy spread to every tribe in the Arabian Peninsula with the exception of the people in Mecca and Medina, the Banu Thaqif in Taif and the Bani Abdul Qais of Oman. In some cases, entire tribes apostatised, others merely withheld zakat, the alms tax, without formally challenging Islam. Many tribal leaders made claims to prophethood, some made it during the lifetime of Muhammad, the news of his death reached Medina shortly after the death of Muhammad. The apostasy of al-Yamama was led by another supposed prophet, Musaylimah, many tribes claimed that they had submitted to Muhammad and that with Muhammads death, their allegiance was ended. Caliph Abu Bakr insisted that they had not just submitted to a leader, the result of this situation was the Ridda wars. Abu Bakr planned his strategy accordingly and he divided the Muslim army into several corps. The strongest corps, and the force of the Muslims, was the corps of Khalid ibn al-Walid. This corps was used to fight the most powerful of the rebel forces, other corps were given areas of secondary importance in which to bring the less dangerous apostate tribes to submission. After a series of successful campaigns Khalid ibn Walid defeated Musaylimah in the Battle of Yamama, the Campaign on the Apostasy was fought and completed during the eleventh year of the Hijri

30.
Umar
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Umar, also spelled Omar, was one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He was a senior Sahabi of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and he succeeded Abu Bakr as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. He was an expert Islamic jurist known for his pious and just nature and he is sometimes referred to as Umar I by historians of Islam, since a later Umayyad caliph, Umar II, also bore that name. Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at a rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years, according to Jewish tradition, Umar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Umar is revered in the Sunni tradition as a ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues. He is viewed adversely in Shia Islam, Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitration among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantama bint Hisham and he is said to have belonged to a middle-class family. In his youth he used to tend to his fathers camels in the plains near Mecca and his merchant father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe. Umar himself said, My father, Al-Khattab was a ruthless man and he used to make me work hard, if I didnt work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion. Despite literacy being uncommon in pre-Islamic Arabia, Umar learned to read, though not a poet himself, he developed a love for poetry and literature. According to the tradition of Quraish, while still in his years, Umar learned martial arts. He was tall, physically powerful and a renowned wrestler and he was also a gifted orator who succeeded his father as an arbitrator among the tribes. Umar became a merchant and made journeys to Rome and Persia. As a merchant he was unsuccessful, like others around him, Umar was fond of drinking in his pre-Islamic days. In 610 Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam, like many others in Mecca, Umar opposed Islam and he even threatened to kill Muhammad. He resolved to defend the traditional religion of Arabia. He was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad and very prominent in persecuting Muslims and he firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord

31.
Arabian Peninsula
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The Arabian Peninsula, simplified Arabia is a peninsula of Western Asia situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian plate. From a geological perspective, it is considered a subcontinent of Asia and it is the largest peninsula in the world, at 3,237,500 km2. The Arabian Peninsula consists of the countries Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula plays a critical geopolitical role in the Middle East and the Arab world due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Before the modern era, it was divided into four regions, Hejaz, Najd, Southern Arabia. Hejaz and Najd make up most of Saudi Arabia, Southern Arabia consists of Yemen and some parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman. Eastern Arabia consists of the coastal strip of the Persian Gulf. The most prominent feature of the peninsula is desert, but in the southwest there are mountain ranges, harrat ash Shaam is a large volcanic field that extends from the northwestern Arabian Peninsula into Jordan and southern Syria. The peninsulas constituent countries are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the island nation of Bahrain lies off the east coast of the peninsula. Six countries form the Gulf Cooperation Council, however, this is a disputed term. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the part of the peninsula. The majority of the population of the live in Saudi Arabia. The peninsula contains the worlds largest reserves of oil, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, a peninsula in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home of the Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera. Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, though historically lightly populated, political Arabia is noted for a high population growth rate - as the result of both very strong inflows of migrant labor as well as sustained high birth rates. The population tends to be young and heavily skewed gender ratio dominated by males. In many states, the number of South Asians exceeds that of the local citizenry, the four smallest states, which have their entire coastlines on the Persian Gulf, exhibit the worlds most extreme population growth, roughly tripling every 20 years. In 2014, the population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936. Listed here are the human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups in Arabia Haplogroup J is the most abundant component in the Arabian peninsula and its two main subclades, show opposite latitudinal gradients in the Middle East

32.
Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel
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Hundreds of rock-cut tombs were constructed in Israel in ancient times. They were cut into the rock, sometimes with elaborate facades, some are free-standing, but most are caves. Each tomb typically belonged to a single, wealthy family, bodies were laid out on stone benches. After a generation, the bones were moved to a chamber or, later, into ossuaries. Rock tombs were the province of the wealthy, the people were buried in the ground. The earliest Canaanite cut-rock cave tombs date from 3100–2900 BCE, but the custom had lapsed a millennium before the earliest Israelite tombs, there are a great many Jewish tombs dating to the Second Temple period, and others in the late Roman or early Byzantine period. Early Canaanite I period tombs are the earliest rock-cut tombs yet discovered in Israel, the custom had lapsed by the second millennium. A number of tombs are mentioned in the Bible. Possibly the first, called Cave of Machpelah, was purchased by Abraham for Sarah from Ephron the Hittite, traditionally, this tomb, which may have been either a rock-cut or a natural cave, is identified with the Cave of the Patriarchs in modern Hebron. According to very old traditions, Abraham, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob, the New Testament reaffirms this tradition, Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money. Rock-cut tombs are mentioned in the Book of Judges, the Second Book of Samuel. The Gospel of Matthew mentions the newly rock-cut tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and its tombs were cut between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE. The architecture of the tombs and the manner of burial is different from anything known from contemporary Palestine, the stone benches on which bodies were laid out and the small square entrance doors are similar to those found elsewhere in Judah. Ussishkin believes that the similarity to building styles of the Phoenician cities validates the Biblical description of Phoenician influence on the Israelite kingdoms. There are three different types of tombs in the Silwan necropolis, each type concentrated in one specific area, seven of the tombs feature gabled ceilings and extremely fine stonework. David Ussishkin describes them as among the most beautifully rock-cut tombs known in the Jerusalem area even when compared with tombs of later periods. In contrast with the family tombs of later periods, these are for single or double burials. Later destruction has effaced the original doorways, a second tomb type described by Ussishkin has flat ceilings and one, two, or three chambers of well-dressed stone carefully squared into spacious rooms

33.
Zamzam Well
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The Well of Zamzam is a well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia,20 m east of the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam. Millions of pilgrims visit the well each year performing the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimages. Islamic tradition states that the Zamzam Well was revealed to Hagar, by the instruction of God, Abraham left his wife and son at a spot in the desert and walked away. She was desperately seeking water for her infant son, but she could not find any, Hagar ran seven times back and forth in the scorching heat between the two hills of Safa and Marwah, looking for water. Getting thirstier by the second, the infant Ishmael scraped the land with his feet, there are other versions of the story involving God sending his angel, Gabriel, who kicked the ground with his heel, and the water rose. A similar story about a well is mentioned in the Bible. The name of the well comes from the phrase Zomë Zomë, meaning stop flowing, the Zamzam Well is located approximately 20 m east of the Kaaba. The well originally had two cisterns in the first era, one for drinking and one for ablution, at that time, it was a simple well surrounded by a fence of stones. Then in the era of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur 771 AD a dome was built above the well, in 775 AD, Al-Mahdi rebuilt the well during his caliphate, and built a dome of teak which was covered with mosaic. One small dome covered the well, and a dome covered the room for the pilgrims. In 835 AD there was further restoration, and the dome was covered with marble during the caliphate of Al-Mutasim, in 1417, during the time of the Mamluks, the mosque was damaged by fire, and required restoration. Further restoration occurred in 1430, and again in 1499 during the time of Sultan Qaitbay, in modern times, the most extensive restoration took place to the dome during the era of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1915. The water of the well is now pumped to the part of the mosque. The Zamzam well was excavated by hand, and is about 30 m deep and 1.08 to 2.66 m in diameter and it taps groundwater from the wadi alluvium and some from the bedrock. Originally water from the well was drawn via ropes and buckets, electric pumps draw the water, which is available throughout the Masjid al-Haram via water fountains and dispensing containers near the Tawaf area. Hydrogeologically, the well is in the Wadi Ibrahim, the upper half of the well is in the sandy alluvium of the valley, lined with stone masonry except for the top metre which has a concrete collar. The lower half is in the bedrock, between the alluvium and the bedrock is a 1⁄2-metre section of permeable weathered rock, lined with stone, and it is this section that provides the main water entry into the well. Water in the well comes from absorbed rainfall in the Wadi Ibrahim, since the area has become more and more settled, water from absorbed rainfall on the Wadi Ibrahim has decreased

34.
Mecca
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Mecca or Makkah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also capital of the Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah in a valley at a height of 277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although more than triple this number every year during the hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islams holiest site, Mecca was long ruled by Muhammads descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, during this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj, as a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the spelling in the 1980s. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah or Makkatu l-Mukarramah, which means Mecca the Honored, the ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is Bakkah. An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure, the form Bakkah is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3,96, while the form Mecca is used in 48,24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad. Other references to Mecca in the Quran call it Umm al-Qurā, another name of Mecca is Tihamah. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah, yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was an arabized Hebrew word. One of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah, Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor appointed by the Saudi government. As of May 2015, the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar, Mecca is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007, on 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 AD, ruling cities such as Hegra, even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca

35.
Beit She'an
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It has also played an important role in modern times, acting as the regional center of the villages in the Beit Shean Valley. The ancient city ruins are now protected within a national park, a large cemetery on the northern Mound was in use from the Bronze Age to Byzantine times. Canaanite graves dating from 2000 to 1600 BCE were discovered there in 1926, after the Egyptian conquest of Beit Shean by pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15th century BCE, the small town on the summit of the Mound became the center of the Egyptian administration of the region. The Egyptian newcomers changed the organization of the town and left a great deal of material culture behind, artifacts of potential cultic significance were found around the temple. Based on a found in the temple, inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphs. University Museums most important finds near the temple is the Lion and Dog stela, the Hebrew University excavations determined that this temple was built on the site of an earlier one. During the three hundred years of Egyptian rule, the population of Beit She’an appears to have been primarily Egyptian administrative officials, the town was completely rebuilt, following a new layout, during the 19th dynasty. The University Museum excavations uncovered two important stelae from the period of Seti I and a monument of Rameses II, Pottery was produced locally, but some was made to mimic Egyptian forms. Other Canaanite goods existed alongside Egyptian imports, or locally made Egyptian-style objects, the 20th dynasty saw the construction of large administrative buildings in Beit Shean, including Building 1500, a small palace for the Egyptian governor. During the 20th dynasty, invasions of the Sea Peoples upset Egypts control over the Eastern Mediterranean, though the exact circumstances are unclear, the entire site of Beit Shean was destroyed by fire around 1150 BCE. The Egyptians did not attempt to rebuild their administrative center and finally lost control of the region, an Iron Age I Canaanite city was constructed on the site of the Egyptian center shortly after its destruction. Around 1100 BC, Canaanite Beit Shean was conquered by the Philistines, during a subsequent battle against the Jewish King Saul at nearby Mount Gilboa in 1004 BC, the Philistines prevailed. 1 Samuel 31,10 states that the victorious Philistines hung the body of King Saul on the walls of Beit Shean, portions of these walls were excavated on the Mound recently. The Assyrian conquest of northern Israel under Tiglath-Pileser III brought about the destruction of Beit Shean by fire, minimal reoccupation occurred until the Hellenistic period. The Hellenistic period saw the reoccupation of the site of Beit Shean under the new name Scythopolis, little is known about the Hellenistic city, but during the 3rd century BCE a large temple was constructed on the Tell. It is unknown which deity was worshipped there, but the continued to be used during Roman times. Graves dating from the Hellenistic period are simple, singular rock-cut tombs, in 198 BCE the Seleucids finally conquered the region. The town played a role after the Hasmonean-Maccabeean Revolt, Josephus records that the Jewish High Priest Jonathan was killed there by Demetrius II Nicator, the city was destroyed by fire at the end of the 2nd century BCE

36.
Acre, Israel
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Acre is a city in the northern coastal plain region of the Northern District, Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. The city occupies an important location, as it sits on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, traditionally linking the waterways and this location helped it become one of the oldest cities in the world, continuously inhabited since the Middle Bronze Age some 4000 years ago. Acre is the holiest city of the Baháí Faith, and as such receives many Bahai pilgrims, in 2015 the population was 47,675. Acre is a city, that includes Jews, Muslims, Christians. The mayor is Shimon Lankri, who was reelected in 2011, Acres etymology is a matter of controversy, though most likely deriving from the early Canaanite language. According to Biblical tradition, the name is derived from Canaanite Adco, meaning a border, the city was known as Ptolemais during the Hellenistic and Roman-Byzantine periods. During the Crusades it was known as St. John dAcre after the Knights Hospitaller, Acre is therefore counted among the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the region. Egyptian sources seem to be mentioning Acre, starting possibly with execration texts from ca.1800 BCE, the name Aak, which appears on the tribute lists of Thutmose III, may be a reference to Acre. The Amarna letters also mention a place named Akka, as well as the Execration texts, First settlement at the site of Ancient Acre appears to have been in the Early Bronze Age, or about 3000 BC. In the Hebrew Bible, Akko is one of the places from which the Israelites did not drive out the Canaanites and it is later described in the territory of the tribe of Asher and according to Josephus, was ruled by one of Solomons provincial governors. Throughout Israelite rule, it was politically and culturally affiliated with Phoenicia, around 725 BC, Akko joined Sidon and Tyre in a revolt against Shalmaneser V. Greek historians refer to the city as Ake, meaning cure, according to the Greek myth, Heracles found curative herbs here to heal his wounds. Strabo refers to the city as once a rendezvous for the Persians in their expeditions against Egypt, about 165 BC Judas Maccabeus defeated the Seleucids in several battles in Galilee, and drove them into Ptolemais. About 153 BC Alexander Balas, son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, contesting the Seleucid crown with Demetrius, seized the city, which opened its gates to him. Demetrius offered many bribes to the Maccabees to obtain Jewish support against his rival, including the revenues of Ptolemais for the benefit of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jonathan Apphus threw in his lot with Alexander and in 150 BC he was received by him with great honour in Ptolemais. Some years later, however, Tryphon, an officer of the Seleucid Empire, the city was captured by Alexander Jannaeus, Cleopatra and Tigranes the Great. Here Herod the Great built a gymnasium, the Christian Acts of the Apostles reports that Luke the Evangelist, Paul the Apostle and their companions spent a day in Ptolemais with the Christian brethren there. A Roman colonia was established at the city, Colonia Claudii Cæsaris, the Romans enlarged the port and the city, that flourished for six centuries even as a Christian center

37.
Arabs
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Arabs are an ethnic group inhabiting the Arab world. They primarily live in the Arab states in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabs are first mentioned in the mid-ninth century BCE as a tribal people dwelling in the central Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs appear to have been under the vassalage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, tradition holds that Arabs descend from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. The Arabian Desert is the birthplace of Arab, there are other Arab groups as well that spread in the land and existed for millennia. Before the expansion of the Caliphate, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic people from the northern to the central Arabian Peninsula and Syrian Desert. Presently, Arab refers to a number of people whose native regions form the Arab world due to spread of Arabs throughout the region during the early Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries. The Arabs forged the Rashidun, Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates, whose borders reached southern France in the west, China in the east, Anatolia in the north, and this was one of the largest land empires in history. The Great Arab Revolt has had as big an impact on the modern Middle East as the World War I, the war signaled the end of the Ottoman Empire. They are modern states and became significant as distinct political entities after the fall and defeat, following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945. The Charter of the Arab League endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland whilst respecting the sovereignty of its member states. Beyond the boundaries of the League of Arab States, Arabs can also be found in the global diaspora, the ties that bind Arabs are ethnic, linguistic, cultural, historical, identical, nationalist, geographical and political. The Arabs have their own customs, language, architecture, art, literature, music, dance, media, cuisine, dress, society, sports, the total number of Arabs are an estimated 450 million. This makes them the second largest ethnic group after the Han Chinese. Arabs are a group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. In the pre-Islamic era, most Arabs followed polytheistic religions, some tribes had adopted Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, apparently observed monotheism. Today, Arabs are mainly adherents of Islam, with sizable Christian minorities, Arab Muslims primarily belong to the Sunni, Shiite, Ibadi, Alawite, Druze and Ismaili denominations. Arab Christians generally follow one of the Eastern Christian Churches, such as the Maronite, Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, or Chaldean churches. Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqar are 1000 camels of Gi-in-di-buu the ar-ba-a-a or Gindibu belonging to the Arab

38.
Caliphate
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A caliphate is an area containing an Islamic steward known as a caliph —a person considered a religious successor to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and a leader of the entire Muslim community. During the history of Islam after the Rashidun period, many Muslim states, the Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of state, a caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam, however, believe a caliph should be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt, before the advent of Islam, Arabian monarchs traditionally used the title malik, or another from the same root. The term caliph, derives from the Arabic word khalīfah, which means successor, steward, however, studies of pre-Islamic texts suggest that the original meaning of the phrase was successor selected by God. There was no specified procedure for this shura or consultation, candidates were usually, but not necessarily, from the same lineage as the deceased leader. Capable men who would lead well were preferred over an ineffectual heir, Sunni Muslims believe that Abu Bakr was chosen by the community and that this was the proper procedure. Sunnis further argue that a caliph should ideally be chosen by election or community consensus, the Shia believe that Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad, was chosen by Muhammad as his spiritual and temporal successor as the Mawla of all Muslims in the event of Ghadir Khumm. The caliph was often known as Amir al-Muminin, Muhammad established his capital in Medina, after he died, it remained the capital during the Rashidun Caliphate, before Kufa was reportedly made the capital by Caliph Ali. At times there have been rival claimant caliphs in different parts of the Islamic world, according to Sunni Muslims, the first caliph to be called Amir al-Muminin was Abu Bakr, followed by Umar, the second of the Rashidun. Uthman and Ali also were called by the title, while the Shia consider Ali to have been the only truly legitimate caliph. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk officially abolished the system of Caliphate in Islam as part of his secular reforms, the Kings of Morocco still label themselves with the title Amir al-Muminin for the Moroccans, but lay no claim to the Caliphate. Some Muslim countries, including Somalia, Indonesia and Malaysia, were never subject to the authority of a Caliphate, with the exception of Aceh, consequently, these countries had their own, local, sultans or rulers who did not fully accept the authority of the Caliph. Abu Bakr, the first successor of Muhammad, nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed, Umar, the second caliph, was killed by a Persian named Piruz Nahavandi. His successor, Uthman, was elected by a council of electors, Uthman was killed by members of a disaffected group. Ali then took control but was not universally accepted as caliph by the governors of Egypt and he faced two major rebellions and was assassinated by Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam, a Khawarij. Alis tumultuous rule lasted only five years and this period is known as the Fitna, or the first Islamic civil war. The followers of Ali later became the Shia minority sect of Islam, the followers of all four Rashidun Caliphs became the majority Sunni sect. Under the Rashidun each region of the Caliphate had its own governor, Muawiyah, a relative of Uthman and governor of Syria, succeeded Ali as Caliph

39.
Uthman
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Uthman ibn Affan, also known in English by the Turkish and Persian rendering, Osman, was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third of the Rashidun, or Rightly Guided Caliphs. Born into a prominent Meccan clan of the Quraysh tribe, he played a role in early Islamic history. Uthman was married to Ruqayyah, and then upon her death to Umm Kulthum, under the leadership of Uthman, the empire expanded into Farsi in 650, and some areas of Khorasan in 651. The empires conquest of Armenia began by the 640s, seven years after Muhammad, Uthman was born in Taif to the wealthy Umayyad clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. Uthmans father, Affan, died young while travelling abroad but left Uthman a large inheritance, Uthman became a merchant, like his father. His business flourished, making him one of the richest men among the Qurayshi tribe and his mother was Arwa, daughter of Um Hakim bint Abdul Mutalib, the twin sister of Abdullah, father of Muhammad, making Uthman Muhammads first cousin. On returning from a trip to Syria in 611, Uthman found out that Muhammad had declared his mission. After a discussion with his friend Abu Bakr, Uthman decided to convert to Islam, Uthman thus became one of the earliest converts to Islam, following Ali, Zayd, Abu Bakr and a few others. His conversion to Islam angered his clan, the Banu Ummayyah, Uthman and his wife Ruqayya migrated to Abyssinia in 614–15, along with 11 men and 11 women, all Muslims. As Uthman already had business contacts in Abyssinia, he continued to practice his profession as a trader. After two years, the news had spread among the Muslims in Abyssinia that the Quraysh of Mecca had accepted Islam, however, when they reached Mecca, they found that the news about the Qurayshs acceptance of Islam was false. Some of the Muslims who had come from Abyssinia returned, but Uthman, in Mecca, Uthman had to start his business afresh, but the contacts that he had already established in Abyssinia worked in his favour and his business prospered once again. In 622 Uthman and his wife, Ruqayya, migrated to Medina and they were amongst the third batch of Muslims who migrated to Medina. On arrival in Medina, Uthman stayed with Abu Talha ibn Thabit, after a short while, Uthman purchased a house of his own and moved there. In Medina, the Muslims were generally farmers and were not very interested in trade, thus, there was considerable space for the Muslims in promoting trade. Uthman took advantage of position, soon establishing himself as a trader in Medina. He worked hard and honestly, and his business flourished, soon becoming one of the richest men in Medina, when Ali married Fatimah, Uthman bought Alis armor for five hundred dirhams. Four hundred was set aside as mahr for Fatimahs marriage, leaving a hundred for all other expenses, later Uthman presented the armor back to Ali as a wedding present

40.
Waqf
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The donated assets may be held by a charitable trust. The person making such dedication is known as waqif, a donor, in Ottoman Turkish law, and later under the British Mandate of Palestine, the waqf was defined as usufruct State land of which the State revenues are assured to pious foundations. In Sunni jurisprudence, waqf, also spelled wakf is synonymous with ḥabs, habs and similar terms are used mainly by Maliki jurists. In Twelver Shiism, ḥabs is a type of waqf. The person making the grant is called al-waqif while the endowed assests are called al-mawquf, the term waqf literally means confinement and prohibition or causing a thing to stop or stand still. Bahaeddin Yediyıldız defines the waqf as a system which comprises three elements, hayrat, akarat and waqf, there is no direct injunction of the Quran regarding Waqf, which is derived from a number of hadiths. One says, Ibn Umar reported, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab got land in Khaybar, so he came to the prophet Muhammad, the Prophet said, If you like, make the property inalienable and give the profit from it to charity. It goes on to say that Umar gave it away as alms and he gave it away for the poor, the relatives, the slaves, the jihad, the travelers and the guests. And it will not be held against him who administers it if he consumes some of its yield in a manner or feeds a friend who does not enrich himself by means of it. In another hadith, Muhammad said, When a man dies, Islamic law puts several legal conditions on the process of establishing a waqf. A waqf is a contract, therefore the founder must be of the capacity to enter into a contract, finally if a person is fatally ill, the waqf is subject to the same restrictions as a will in Islam. The property used to found a waqf must be objects of a valid contract, the object should not be illegal in Islam. Finally these objects should not already be in the public domain, thus, public property cannot be used to establish a waqf. The founder cannot also have pledged the property previously to someone else and these conditions are generally true for contracts in Islam. The property dedicated to waqf is generally immovable, such as estate, all movable goods can also form waqf, according to most Islamic jurists. The Hanafis, however, also allow most movable goods to be dedicated to a waqf with some restrictions, some jurists have argued that even gold and silver can be designated as waqf. The beneficiaries of the waqf can be persons and public utilities, the founder can specify which persons are eligible for benefit. Public utilities such as mosques, schools, bridges, graveyards, modern legislation divides the waqf as charitable causes, in which the beneficiaries are the public or the poor) and family waqf, in which the founder makes the beneficiaries his relatives

41.
Day of Arafah
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The Day of Arafah is the holiest day in Islam that falls on the 9th day of Dhul Hijja of the lunar Islamic Calendar. This happens to be approximately 70 days after the end of the month of Ramadan and it is the second day of the Hajj pilgrimage and the day after is the first day of the major Islamic Holiday of Eid ul-Adha. At dawn of day, Muslim pilgrims will make their way from Mina to a nearby hillside and plain called Mount Arafat. It was from this site that Muhammad in gave one of his last famous sermons in the year of his life. Muslims hold that part of the Quranic verse announcing that the religion of Islam had been perfected was revealed on this day, There are numerous virtues claimed for the 9th of Dhu ’l-Hijjah which is known as yawm al-‘Arafah. This is the day where the pilgrims assemble on the plain of ‘Arafah to complete one of the rituals of the Hajj. The completion of Allah’s blessing refers to forgiveness for ones sins by Allah and this brings to light the importance of being forgiven by Allah. Those not performing pilgrimage are recommended to fast on Arafah day and it is expected that Allah will expiate the small sins committed In two years the year before and the year to come. Prophet s Prayers Dua to be read at Arafat Recite, لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٍ, O Allah, make Nur in my heart, in my ears Nur and in my eyes Nur. O Allah open my chest, make my tasks easy and I seek refuge in You from the whispers of the chest, from disorganisation in working, O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the evils that come with the wind. Abu Qatada al-Ansari reported that Muhammad was asked about his fasting and he was asked about perpetual fasting, whereupon he said, He neither fasted nor did he break it, or he did not fast and he did not break it. He was then asked about fasting for two days and breaking one day and he (Muhammad said, And who is strong enough to do it. He was asked about fasting for a day and breaking for two days, whereupon he said, May Allah bestow upon us strength to do it. He was then asked about fasting for a day and breaking on the other, whereupon he said and he was asked about fasting on the day of Arafah, whereupon he said, It expiates the sins of the preceding year and the coming year. He was asked about fasting on the day of Ashura, whereupon he said, It expiates the sins of the preceding year. The Book of Fasting Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 2603 In Sahih Muslim it was narrated from Āishah that Muhammad said and he comes close and expresses His fulfillment to the angels, saying, What do these people want. Each year, the Day of Arafah falls on one of two different Gregorian dates in different parts of the world because the boundary of crescent visibility is different from the International date line. Furthermore, some follow the date in Saudi Arabia rather than the astronomically determined local calendar

42.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe

43.
Muslim
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A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran, their book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts, Muslim is an Arabic word meaning one who submits. Most Muslims will accept anyone who has publicly pronounced Shahadah as a Muslim, the shahadah states, There is no god but the God and Muhammad is the last messenger of the God. The testimony authorized by God in the Quran that can found in Surah 3,18 states, There is no god except God, which in Arabic, is the exact testimony which God Himself utters, as well as the angels and those who possess knowledge utter. The word muslim is the active participle of the verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral S-L-M to be whole. A female adherent is a muslima, the plural form in Arabic is muslimūn or muslimīn, and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt. The Arabic form muslimun is the stem IV participle of the triliteral S-L-M, the ordinary word in English is Muslim. It is sometimes transliterated as Moslem, which is an older spelling, the word Mosalman is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central Asia. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans, although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist, musulmán/Mosalmán is a synonym for Muslim and is modified from Arabic. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi said, A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God. Islam means making ones religion and faith Gods alone. The Quran states that men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values. Thus, in Surah 3,52 of the Quran, Jesus disciples tell him, We believe in God, and you be our witness that we are Muslims. In Muslim belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat to Moses, the Zabur to David and the Injil to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12. 7% of the worlds Muslims, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 20% of the worlds Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa, Sizable minorities are found in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia. The country with the highest proportion of self-described Muslims as a proportion of its population is Morocco

Greater Jerusalem, May 2006. CIAremote sensing map showing East Jerusalem, the Green Line and Jerusalem's city limits which were unilaterally expanded by Israel, 28 June 1967, annexed by Knesset (30 July 1980), and modified and expanded in February 1992.